Trolley-retriever.



. No. 735,672 PATENTED AUG. 4, 1903.

I A. W. KNUTSON.

TROLLEY RETRIEVER;

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 17, 1903.

N0 MODEL. 3 SHEETSSHEET 1.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR m: NORRIS rrrsas co, mowurnon wunmumu, me.

PATENTED AUG. 4, 1903.

A. W. KNUTSON. TROLLEY RETRIEVER. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 1-1, 1903.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2 N0 MODEL.

I INVENTOR flyredifi'jii'mhwq WITNESSES:

ATTOR N EY PATENTED AUG. 4, 1903.

A. W. KNUTSON.

TROLLEY RETRIEVER. APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 17, 190s.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- VIII/III WITNESSES: INVENTOR UNiTEn STATES Iatented August 4;,

PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED W. KNUTSON, OF CANTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE TROLLEY SUPPLY COMPANY, OF CANTON, OHIO, A CORPORATION.

'TROLLEY-RETRIEVER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 7 35,672, dated August 4, 1903.

Application filed January 17, 1903. Serial No. 139,459. (No model.)

To all whom it nuty concern.-

Be it known that I, ALFRED W. KNUTSON, a citizen of the United States, residing atCanton, in the county of Stark and State of Ohio,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trolley-Retrievers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an automatic spring-actuated reel for a trolley-rope; and the objects of the improvements are to provide a condensed mechanism which will take up the ordinary slack of the trolley-rope by action of a comparatively weak spring, stop the trolley promptly in event it leaves the Wire and pull it down below the wire by the addedaction of a relatively strong spring and hold it down until the mechanism is readjusted for another service. I attain these objects by the construction and mechanism illustratedin the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of the retriever and its attaching-plate, showing the relation of the parts when the retriever-- spring is in action; Fig. 2, a horizontal longitudinal section of the retriever looking upward, showing the relation of the parts when the retriever-spring is wound and locked and the reel-spring is alone in action; Fig. 3, an elevation of the retriever with the reel and its case removed; Fig. 4, an inside view of the reel and its case; Fig. 5, a detached view of the locking-bolt and the radial groove; Fig. 6', an inside view of the spirally-grooved disk; Fig. 7, a detachedperspective view of the locking-bolt; Fig. 8, a fragmentary perspective view showing the attaching device before engagement, and Fig. 9 a similar view showing the same in engagement.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

For convenience in assembling the parts the frame or shell of the retriever is preferably formed of the spring-case 1, the diaphragm 2, and the reel-case 3, the spring-case being attached on the inner side of the diaphragm by screws, as 4, and the reel-case on the outer side thereof by screws, as 5. In the diaphragm is formed the inner or principal bearing 6 for the retriever mechanism, and in the reel-case is located the outer bearing 7.

The outer bearing is preferably formed as a bushing, which is fixed against rotation by the set-screw 8 and has an inwardly-projecting peripheral flange which forms the arbor 9 for the weak or reel spring 10. The springcase, the diaphragm, the reelcase, and the attached reel-spring arbor constitute the fixed or rigid parts of the retriever, which do not move or rotate in its ordinary operations.

On the inner and preferably reduced part of the shaft 11. is attached the grooved disk 12 and its inwardlyprojecting sleeve 13, which end of the shaft and sleeve extend through the principal bearing and into the spring-case. On the end of this shaft and sleeve, within the spring-case, is attached the arbor 14 for the retriever-spring 15, these parts being preferably connected by the through-pin 16 and being fixed with reference to each other constitute the body of the retriever mechanism. The sleeve 13 between the grooved disk and the strong-spring arbor is journaled in the inner bearing, and the outer end of the shaft is journaled in the outer bearing, thus giving the retriever mechanism a firm and constant support.

The strong or retriever spring 15 is preferably formedpf a coiled band and is attached at its outer end to the spring-case, as by the rivet 17, and is preferably connected at its inner end with its arbor 1 L by the usual ratchet engagement, as shown at 18. By these means the retriever mechanism, including the grooveddisk and its attached parts, is free to rotate in either direction, subject only to the action of the retriever-spring in one direction and the locking mechanism hereinafter described in the other direction.

On the outer and preferably enlarged part of the shaft 11 is mounted the reel 19, which is preferably formed of the hub 20, the web 21, the rim 22, having part on each side of the web, and the outer and inner flanges 23 and 24. The hub 21 preferably extends each Way from the web to give the reel a firm bearing on the shaft, and the outer end of the hub extends freely within the reel-spring arbor to the washer 25 and the retaining-pin 26. The reel-spring 10 is also preferably formed of a coiled band and is attached at its outer end on the outer side of the reel-web, at or near the rim thereof, as by the pin 27, and is preferably connected with its arbor 9 by the usual ratchet engagement, as shown at 28. The reel thus mounted is free to rotate on the shaft in either direction, subject only to the action of the reel-spring in one direction and when in engagement with the retriever formed the tongue 46.

mechanism to the added action of the re- EIiQXGP-SPllllg. The engagement of the reel with the retriever mechanism is made by means of the bolts 29, operating radially through the guide-lugs 30 on the outer side of the grooved disk 12. \Vhen the retriever mechanism is locked, these bolts are drawn inward by action of the spring 31, so that their outer ends are within the line of the periphery of the grooved disk, as shown in Fig. 3; but when the mechanism is tripped or unlocked the engaging bolts are thrown out by rotation of the cams 32 and 33 on the locking-lever 34, actuated by the spring 35, against the inner ends of the bolts. The 1ocking-lever34 is pivoted on the shaft 11 between the outer face of the grooved disk and the reel hub and is free to rotate by reason of the shoulders 36 and 37 on the shaft. On the outer end of the locking-lever is formed the arm 38, which is directed inward past the periphery of the grooved disk, in which periphery there is formed the notch 39 to receive this arm, and the shoulders 40 and 41 at the ends of the notch limit the rotation of the locking-lever in each direction. When the bolts 25) are thrown out, they enter in the notches 42, formed on the inner part of the reel-rim, and thus engage the reel with the retriever mechanism and require them to retate together, as shown in Fig. 1 and by broken lines in Fig.

The retriever mechanism is locked by means of the bolt 43, which operates in the radial groove 44, formed on the outer side of the diaphragm, which bolt has the head 45 on its inner end extending outward to the inner face of the grooved disk, on which head is The locking-bolt is operated outward and inward by means of the spiral groove 47, which is formed on the inner side of the disk 12, into which groove the bolt-tongue projects. The locking-bolt, being held against rotation by the relatively fixed diaphragm when the retriever mechanism, including the grooved disk is rotated, is moved outward or inward, according as the disk is rotated one way or the other, by the travel of the bolt-tongue in the spiral groove. The inner end 48 of the flange which forms the spiral groove terminates before it joins the sleeve 13 of the disk, so there is left the free circular groove 49 around the sleeve, which permits the disk to rotate indefinitely when it has drawn the locking-bolt inward against the disk-sleeve, and the spring 50 is provided to engage the bolt when the same is drawn inward, and thereby make sure that the bolttongue will always enter the spiral groove outside of the end 48 of the groove-flange when the rotation of the disk is reversed. The outer end.of the spiral groove is considerably widened, so as to make the wide opening from the shoulder 51 to the shoulder 52 at the periphery of the disk, as shown in Fig. 6, the groove-flange being rapidly thickened at its outer end 53, thus presenting the outwardlycurved face 54, which acts against the tongue to throw the locking-bolt outward quite rapidly at the end of its movement. This action is desirable to enable the head 45 of the locking-bolt to pass inside of the arm 38 of the locking-lever when the same is in its unlocked position, as shown in Fig. 6 and by broken lines in Fig. 3, and then. to be thrown quickly outward byaslight further rotation of the grooved disk, thereby bringing the head of the bolt alongside of the locking-lever arm preparatory to locking the mechanism.

To wind the retriever-spring and lock the mechanism, the bolts 2!) being thrown out to an engagement with the notches in the reelrim, as shown in Fig. 1 and by broken lines in Fig. 3, and the trolley-rope 55, which enters through the neck 56 of the reel-case and is suitably connected with the reel, being partly wound around the same, the trolleyrope is pulled outward, thereby rotating the reel and the engaged retriever mechanism, which in turn winds and brings into action the retriever-spring. This rotation starts the locking-bolt outward as soon as the inner end of the groove-flange has turned to engage with the bolt-tongue, which outward movement of the locking-bolt continues the travel of the bolt-tongue in the spiral groove until the bolt is stopped by the head of the bolt striking the shoulder 57, formed by the short peripheral flange 58 of the disk, which it is arranged to do at the instant the bolt is thrown quickly outward by the curved face 54 of the groove-flange and its head is brought alongside of the arm of the locking-lever. The trolley-rope is then allowed to recedc, and the reel and retriever mechanism are rotated in the reverse direction by action of the retriever-sprin g. By this movement the arm 38 of the locking-lever soon strikes and is stopped by the head of the locking-bolt, and the continued rotation of the grooved disk actuated by the retriever-spring soon brings the shoulder 40 against the arm of the locking-lever, which stops the disk and thereby the retriever mechanism from further rotation, which relation of the parts is shown in Figs. 2 and hen the rotation of the grooved disk is reversed, the tongue of the locking-bolt is at once freed from its contact with the groove-flange and stands free in the wide outer opening of the spiral groove, as shown in Fig. 2, and the bolt is thus ready to be tripped for unlocking the retriever mechanism. To prevent an inward movement of the bolt during this reverse rotation of the disk, the spring 59 is provided, under which the end of the locking-bolt is forced at the termination of its outward movement ICO and by which spring the bolt is held firmly against receding until all the parts are locked. The engaging bolts do not at once withdraw from the notches in the reel-rim when the locking-lever turns to free its cams from the inner ends of the bolts, because the pressure of the retriever-spring is carried by the ends of the bolts in the notches; but as soon as the shoulder 40 is stopped against the arm of the locking-lever, which in turn is stopped against the head of the locking-bolt, these parts carry the pressure of the retrieverspring and relieve the engaging bolts of the same, whereupon they are drawn inward by action of the spring 31 to the position shown in Fig. 3. This is the position of the parts when the retriever-spring is wound and the retriever mechanism is locked or stopped from rotation. When the retriever-spring is wo und and the retriever mechanism is locked, the reel is free to rotate, subject only to the action of the reel -spring. When the retriever is attached to a car, the'trolley-rope is attached or connected to the reel and the reel-spring is wound to a suitable tension to take up the slack of the rope in all the various possible positions of the trolley-pole. This adjustment is preferably made by withdrawing the set-screw 8 and turning the outer bearing and the reel-spring arbor by means of a key inserted in the sockets until the reel-spring is wound to the required tension, whereupon the set-screw is reinserted, which fixes the parts in this relation.

To trip or unlock the retriever mechanism and engage it with the reel, so the energy of the retriever-spring is added to that of the reel-spring, the trip-latch 61 is pivoted on the outer side of the diaphragm and has the triparm 62 on one side formed and located to act inwardly as a cam against the shoulder 63 on the side of the locking-bolt when the same is in its outer or locked position. By rotating the trip-latch on its pivot the trip-arm forces the locking-bolt inward, so that its head 45 clears and releases the arm 38 of the lockinglever, and at the same time the tongue 46 of the locking-bolt is carried inward to freely clear the shoulder 51 at the mouth of the spi-.

ral groove. The locking-lever being released is at once rotated on the grooved disk, and its shaft by action of the spring 35 and its cams 32 and 33 immediately throw the bolts 29 out to an engagement with the notches 42 in the rim of the reel, as shown by broken lines in Fig. 3, and the energy of the retriever-spring, being unlocked, is thus added to that of the reelspring. The rotation of the grooved disk by the freed action of the retriever-sprin g draws the locking-bolt inward, because the tongue of the bolt is caught in the spiral groove and thereby carried inward to the free circular groove around the sleeve of the disk, where it is ready for use again in the winding and locking of the retriever spring and mechanism. The trip-latch is normally held from action by the spring 64, and by providing a handle 65, extending outside of the retrievershell, the retriever mechanism can be tripped at will by the trolley-man; but this manner of tripping is only intended for incidental or.

convenient purposes and can be omitted, if desired.

The retriever mechanism is automatically unlocked or tripped by means of the tripdogs 66, which are pivoted at 67 on theinner side of the inner flange of the reel. The tripdogs are normally held in against the annular shoulder 68 on the reel by the springs 69, but when the reel is suddenly or quickly rotated, as by the trolley-wheel jumping off the wire and jerking the rope, the dogs are thrown outward by centrifugal force, so that the notches 7 O in their ends are brought into line to strike and engage the end 71 of the flange 7 2, which is formed on the side of the trip-latch, which relation of these parts is shown by brokenlines in Figs. 3 and 4. A continued rotation of the reel causes one or the other trip-dog to engage with the flange on the trip-latch and by rotating the same to the position shown by broken lines in Fig. 3 to unlock the retriever mechanism, as described above. The recess 73 is provided in the reel-case for the free operation of the flange 7 2 of the trip-latch, and I prefer to provide the aperture 74 in the lower side of the reel-case to drain off such water as may enter by way of the trolley-rope or otherwise.

I prefer to attach the retriever to a car by means of the attaching plate 75, which is screwed or otherwise formed on the body or frame 76 of the car. On the attaching-plate is formed the annular flange 77, in which is neatly telescoped and supported the inner end of the spring-case. The lugs 7 8 are provided on the annular flange, preferably one above and one below and opposite each other, which lugs are provided with slots, as 79, on one side and the sockets, as 80, on the other side. The bosses, as 81, are provided on the spring-case at suitable intervals to register with the slots in the lugs. The spring-case is inserted within the flange 77 and the bosses entered in the slots 79. The retriever is then turned or rotated to enter the bosses in the sockets S0 of the lug, and the latch 82, which is pivoted on the spring-case, is then closed into the slot 79 of one of the lugs, which prevents the retriever from being turned or rotated to free the bosses from the sockets, and thereby firmly secures the retriever to the car, from which it can be readily detached by reversin g these steps. The latch 82 is more conveniently located on the upper side of the spring-case and is preferably provided with the shoulder 83, against which the spring 84 acts to hold the latch in a locked or unlocked position. I 7

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A retriever attachment comprising aplate, an annular flange on the plate,1ugs on IIO &

other side in the lugs, a retriever-ease telescoping within the flange, bosses 011 the case located to enter the slots and by rotation of the case to enter the sockets, and a latch pivoted on the case arranged to close in one of the slots.

2. A retriever attachment comprising a plate, an annular flange on the plate, lugs on the flange, slots on one side and sockets on the other side in the lugs, a retriever-case telescoping within the flange, bosses 011 the case located to enter the slots and by rotation of the case to enter the sockets, a latch pivoted on the case arranged to close in one of the slots, a shoulder on the latch, and a spring on the case acting against the shoulder to hold the latch either open or closed.

In a retriever, a diaphragm, a radial groove in the diaphragm, a retriever mechanism journaled in the diaphragm, a disk fixed in the mechanism, a spiral groove in the disk, a reel pivoted on the mechanism, means for engaging the mechanism with the reel, a spring act-ing to rotate the mechanism, a bolt operating in the radial groove, a tongue on the bolt operating in the spiral groove whereby the bolt is moved outward when the mechanism is rotated to wind the spring, a lever pivoted on the disk, and means operated by the rotation of the lever on the disk for disengaging the mechanism from the reel, means for stopping the lever against reverse rotation by the bolt in its outer position and afterward for stopping the disk by the lever, which intervening rotation of the disk with reference to the lever acts to disengage the mechanism from the reel.

4. In a retriever, a diaphragm, a radial groove in the diaphragm, a retriever mechanism journaled in the diaphragm, a disk fixed in the mechanism, a spiral groove in the disk, a reel pivoted on the mechanism, a spring acting to rotate the mechanism, a bolt operating in the radial groove, a tongue on the bolt operating in the spiral groove whereby the bolt is moved inward when the spring rotates the mechanism, a spring-controlled lever pivoted on the disk and means operated by rotation of the lever on the disk for engaging the mechanism with the reel, means for stopping the lever against reverse rotation by the bolt in its outer position and afterward for stopping the disk by the lever, a latch pivoted 011 the diaphragm, and a cam on the latch adapted to throw the bolt inward to trip the mechanism and aline the tongue to enter the groove, whereby the lever rotates on the disk to engage the mechanism with the reel.

5. In a retriever, a diaphragm, a radial groove in the diaphragm, a disk pivoted on the diaphragm, a spiral groove in the disk terminating in a wide opening at the periphery, the inner face of the opening being curved rapidly outward, a shoulder on the disk adjacent to the curved face, shoulders on the periphery of the disk, a spring-controlled lever centrally pivoted 011 the disk, an arm on the lever nor- 111 ally resting against one peripheral shoulder at the groove-opening, a bolt operating in the radial groove, a tongue on the bolt operating in the spiral groove, and a head on the'bolt adapted to be thrown out alongside the leverarm by the curved face by the rotation of the disk and to be there stopped by the adjacent shoulder, whereby the lever will be stopped on the bolt-head and afterward the disk will be stopped by its other peripheral shoulder on the lever-arm against a reverse rotation.

6. In a retriever, a diaphragm, a radial groove in the diaphragm, a disk pivoted on the diaphragm, a spiral groove in the disk terminating in a wide opening at the periphery, the inner face of the opening being curved rapidly outward, a stop-shoulder on the disk adjacent to the curved face, shoulders on the periphery of the disk, a spring-actuated lever centrally pivoted on the disk, an arm on the lever normally resting against one peripheral shoulder at the groove-opening, a bolt operating in the radial groove, a tongue on the bolt operating in the spiral groove, a head on the bolt adapted to be thrown out alongside the lever-arm by the curved face by the rotation of the disk and to be there stopped by the adjacent shoulder, whereby the lever will be stopped on the bolthead and afterward the disk will be stopped by its other peripheral shoulder on the leverarm against a reverse rotation, and a spring on the diaphragm acting to hold the bolt outward until all the parts are locked.

7. In a retriever, a diaphragm, a radial groove in the diaphragm, a disk pivoted on the diaphragm, a spiral groove in the disk terminating in a wide opening at the periphery, a spring acting to rotate the disk, shoulders on the periphery of the disk, a spring-controlled lever centrally pivoted on the disk, an arm on the lever normally resting against one shoulder at the wide opening, a bolt operating in the radial groove, a tongue 011 the bolt operating in the spiral groove, a head on the bolt adapted to stop the lever-arm and thereby the disk on its other shoulder against the action of the spring when the bolt is thrown out with its tongue free in the groove-opening, a latch pivoted on the diaphragm, and a cam on the latch adapted to throw the bolt inward to trip the lever-arm and the disk and to aline the tongue with the groove.

8. In a retriever, a disk, shoulders on the periphery of the disk, spring-retained radial bolts on the disk, at spring-controlled lever pivoted on the disk, an arm on the levernormally resting against one shoulder of the disk and cams thereon normally holding the radial bolts out, a spring acting to rotate the disk, and means for stopping the lever against rotation whereby the further rotation of the disk brings its other shoulder to stop against the lever-arm and relieves the radial bolts from the action of the cams.

9. In a retriever, a disk, shoulders on the periphery of the disk, spring-retained radial bolts on the disk, a spring-controlled lever pivoted on the disk, an arm on the lever normally resting against one shoulder of the disk and cams thereon normally holding the radial bolts, a spring acting to rotate the disk, means for stopping the lever against rotation whereby the further rotation of the disk brings its other shoulder to stop againstthe lever-arm and relieves the radial bolts from the action of the cams, and a latch acting to trip the lever and the disk whereby the lever rotates 011 the disk to throw the radial bolts outward.

10. I11 a retriever, a diaphragm, a radial groove in the diaphragm, a retriever mechanism journaled in the diaphragm, a disk fixed in the mechanism, a spiral groove in the disk, a spring acting to rotate the mechanism, a bolt operating in the radial groove, a tongue on the bolt operating in the spiral groove whereby the bolt is moved outward when the mechanism is rotated to wind the spring, and means for locking the mechanism against re verse rotation by the bolt in its outer position.

11. In a retriever, a diaphragm, a radial groove in the diaphragm, a retriever mechanism journaled in the diaphragm, a diskfixed in the mechanism, a spiral groove in the disk, aspring acting to rotate the mechanism, a bolt operating in the radial groove, a tongue on the bolt operating in the spiral groove whereby the bolt is moved inward when the mechanism is rotated by the spring, means for locking the mechanism against the action of the spring by the bolt in its outer position, alatch pivoted on the diaphragm, and a cam on the latch adapted to throw the bolt inward whereby the mechanism is tripped and the tongue alined to enter the groove.

12. In a retriever, a diaphragm, a radial groove in the diaphragm, a disk pivoted on the diaphragm, a central sleeve on the disk, a circular groove in the disk around the sleeve, a spiral groove in the disk opening in the circular groove, a bolt operating in the radial groove, a tongue on the bolt operating in the circular and spiral grooves,and a spring on the diaphragm acting to start the bolt outward.

13. In a retriever, a diaphragm, a radial groove in the diaphragm, a disk pivoted on the,

diaphragm, a central sleeeve on the disk, a groove in the disk around the sleeve, a spiral groove in the disk opening in the circular groove, a bolt operating in the radial groove, and a tongue on the bolt operating in the central and spiral grooves.

14:. In a retriever, a diaphragm, a radial groove in the diaphragm, a disk pivoted on the 16. In a retriever, a shaft, a rotatable reel on v the shaft, notches in the reel, a rotatable retriever mechanism on the shaft, radial bolts on the mechanism, and cams pivoted on the shaft to throw the bolts out to engage the notches.

17. In aretriever, a shaft, a rotatable reel on the shaft, notches in the reel, a rotatable retriever mechanism on the shaft, radial belts in the mechanism, a spring acting to retain the bolts, and means for throwing them out to engage in the notches.

18. In a retriever, a disk and a spiral groove in the disk terminating in a wide opening at the periphery, the inner face of the groove being curved rapidly outward.

19. In a retriever, a disk, radial bolts on the disk, and a spring acting to draw the bolts inward.

20. In a retriever, a disk, and a spiral groove in the disk terminating in a wide opening at the periphery.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALFRED IV. KNUTSON.

WVitnesses: 4

J. H. KAUFFMAN, HARRY FREASE. 

